Chase Your Passion, Not Your Pension

Chase your passion not your pension. We recently came across this motivational statement, and it got us thinking … what does it mean?

The idea is that your job gives you an opportunity to make a living while your passion gives you an opportunity to make a difference in the world. In his book, Passion Plan: A Step-to-step guide to discerning, developing and living your passion, Richard Chang asked some heart touching questions: Do you spend a lot of time doing things you don’t want to do, in places you don’t want to be, for no other reason than you feel you have to? You have to bring home a pay cheque, please your friends and family, and meet the expectations society has set for you. Stop playing to the gallery of people’s applause at the detriment of your inner satisfaction. If the sole reason for taking a job is just to earn money without the consideration for inner satisfaction, then it becomes a deteriorating form of ‘financial prostitution’.

But let’s face it, it sounds much easier said than done. After all, we all need to put food on the table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads. Surely those are our first priorities? According to Maslow it is. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has food, shelter, safety and warmth way ahead of self-actualisation.

So, should you give up your job to follow your passion? It’s not as simple as that and transitioning from your job to your passion involves taking a fair amount of risks, bold steps and questions that you need to answer, such as:

When is the right time to switch from one’s job to one’s passion? To know the optimum time to pursue your passion, you need to start by weighing up a number of critical factors including your ‘inner dissatisfaction’. This is the dissatisfaction in your present job, which is a sign of higher calling to pursue your passion.

Can you eliminate money from the equation? Ask yourself the sincere question of what you really love doing even if you’re not going to be paid for it. You need to ensure you have a financial base that’ll sustain you for at least six months, regardless of whether there is financial influx or not. There could be disastrous consequences from switching from your current job to your passion without a strong financial plan that’ll effectively fund your transition especially if you have a family to cater for.

The next step is to identify your customers. Who are the people that’ll support you and pay you for what you love doing?

Meet your mentor. It is also important to identify a professional mentor, someone who’s done what you’re about to do or, at least, does something similar. They’ll eventually become your ‘shock absorber’ to various challenges you’ll encounter on the way, since they’ve been there before. They will be able to help with critical decisions, possibly designing a strategic plan, and mapping out your vision, mission, core values, goals and objectives.

Mark Twain must be given the final word on the subject. “Plan for the future because that’s where you’re going to spend the rest of your life,” he observed.

1 Comment

Andre Du Toit
on July 26, 2019 at 7:30 pm

“Plan for the future because that’s where you’re going to spend the rest of your life”. Wow! So true …
Awesome article … absolutely LOVED reading it … Thank you!